Resilient wood replication

ABSTRACT

Resilient wood replication especially suited for use as floor covering is provided by a thick resilient elastomeric polyurethane base having a wood-stained molded textured wood-grain surface which is overcoated with a clear, tough, abrasion-resistant, flexible, water-resistant polyurethane protective coating. A preferred configuration of the resilient wood replication is a floor tile having opposed mating ends and two parallel sides and a surface configuration having a grain appearance of a plurality of parqueted natural wood pieces. A multiplicity of the tiles can be applied to the floor with complimentary ends fitted together to provide a continuous mass of tile having the actual lines between separate tiles virtually indistinguishable to the casual observer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Smooth floor coverings have ancient origins. In the Bronze Age(1600-1000BC) water-worn pebbles were laid as floorings in Crete and also on theGreen mainland. The Greeks, refining this technique between the sixthand the fourth centuries BC, installed decorative pebble mosaics. Suchmosaics were also made from marble, serpentine alabaster, some forms ofgranite, and other stones suitably polished. Timber flooring, originallyused in rough form for a strictly functional purpose, was eventuallymade into smooth boards, and was later used decoratively in theparquetry designs.

In recent times, the use of finished wood floors has declined in favorof linoleum, asbestos tile, vinyl tile floor tile and carpeting, due tothe ease of maintaining all of these materials and due to the soft warmfeeling underfoot of the last-named. The warm and luxurious appearanceof finished wood flooring has been recognized and is still recognizedamong those who appreciate quality construction and fine buildingmaterials. There have been attempts to make floor coverings of syntheticmaterials such as plastic which resemble wood but these have generallybeen inadequate for one or more reasons. For example, some wear poorlydue to the inability of the material selected to withstand thepunishment inflicted by normal walking traffic and any of a variety ofactivities normally carried on on the floor of the home or commercialbuilding. Others merely resemble wood, appearing even to the casualobserver as being a wood simulation. Attempts have been made to makesmooth-surfaced flooring materials more resilient underfoot to give amore luxurious, comfortable feel but these attempts have been inadequatedue to the deficiencies in physical properties of the materialsselected. For example, many rubbery materials contain fillers whichinteract with materials present in the atmosphere such as moisture,causing undesirable buckling and distortion. This situation would createa tripping hazard which would be intolerable if such an item were usedto cover floors, especially where water is commonly present, forexample, on walkways near the entrances of buildings.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention provides a unique, aesthetically attractivefunctional resilient wood replication which can be employed as a floorcovering material and which avoids problems described above. Thereplication of the invention is provided by a resilient, elastomericpolyurethane base having a molded textured wood-grain surface which iscoated with wood stain to resemble wood and overcoated with a clear,tough, abrasion-resistant, flexible, water-resistant polyurethaneprotective coating. The preferred configuration of the resilient woodreplication of the invention is a floor tile having two mating ends andtwo parallel sides and a surface configuration having a wood-grainappearance of a plurality of parqueted natural wood pieces. One matingend of the tile has a male end portion and the opposite end is acomplimentary female end portion such that a multiplicity of the tilescan be applied to a floor with the tiles mated together to provide anintegral parquet floor design with the actual lines between separatetiles being virtually indistinguishable to the casual observer.

The resilient wood replication of the invention has a unique feel whenwalked upon which may be likened to walking on a layer of soft resilientrubber, providing an extremely comfortable surface underfoot.Additionally, the unique product of the invention has the warm andluxurious look of wood, it being virtually indistinguishable from realwood, yet much easier to apply and maintain. Moreover, the product ofthe invention is not subject to problems normally present with wood,such as being sensitive to water which causes wood to expand, contract,crack and discolor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Understanding of the invention will be facilitated by referring to theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plane view of one embodiment of the resilient woodreplication of the invention in the form of a floor tile; and

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the articleof FIG. 1 taken at line 2--2.

PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As depicted in FIG. 2, the resilient wood replication of the inventionis formed of a thick resilient elastomeric polyurethane base 20 having amolded textured wood-grain surface 21 which is coated with wood stain 22and overcoated with a clear, tough, abrasion-resistant, flexiblepolyurethane protective coating 23.

A preferred embodiment of the resilient wood replication of theinvention is a floor tile, most preferably in the shape shown in FIG. 2.As shown, the preferred floor tile has parallel sides 10 and 11 andmating ends. The preferred mating end has male portion 12 whichresembles an arrowhead with a complementary female portion 13. Thisconfiguration is arrived at by forming the tile which is an integralstructure appearing as having a set of pieces arranged with two crosseddiagonal pickets, triangular pieces between two opposed spaces formed bythe cross configuration of the pickets, and a square piece 18 in anotherspace of the cross, with the remaining space being capable ofaccommodating that triangular part of square piece 18 which protrudesbeyond the generally square shape of the main body of the tile. Eachpicket is pointed on its ends to provide 90° angles which form thecorners of the tile where these pieces terminate. One picket appears tobe bisected by and have its midportion interrupted by the other picket.

Each of the pickets may be divided along on its longitudinal axis asshown in FIG. 1 to give the design more interesting lines, providingpicket parts 14 and 15 along one diagonal and picket parts 16 and 17along the other diagonal. Square shaped piece 18 lies with one sideadjacent piece 14 and an adjacent side abutting piece 17 to complete themale end of the tile, exposing edges 19 and 30 to provide end 12.

Each of the triangles which fit within the opposed spaces of thetriangular spaces within the crossed picket configuration may also bedivided, to provide more design detail, by a line perpendicular to theirhypotenuse providing equal smaller triangles 31 and 32 and 33 and 34,respectively.

The pieces preferably do not fit immediately adjacent to one another butare separated by a small depression 35 which may be stained the darkercolor than the remaining surface of the tile. Preferably the wood-grainpattern in the pieces runs in the longitudinal direction where thepieces are elongate (e.g., pieces 14, 15, 16 and 17), with the grain ofthe remaining pieces preferably running as shown in FIG. 1. Such anarrangement of the wood grain in parquet tile is well known in the artof wood parquet flooring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The polyurethane material forming the elastomeric base of the woodreplication of the invention is initially liquid and capable of beingcured to a product which is flexible, durable and tough, fairlyresilient, and water-resistant. (By water-resistant is meant thematerial should not undergo any appreciable dimensional changes uponimmersion in water). This material should also, in the liquid state,have the ability of filling fine depressions in a mold, and be capableof nearly perfectly reproducing a counterpart of the mold's surface onits surface upon curing.

Suitable cured polyurethane elastomer compositions for use in thearticle of the invention will have an elongation of at least 50%,preferably from 90% to 150% and a tensile strength of at least about 100psi, preferably from 120 to 700 as measured by ASTM D-412. To providethe proper feel underfoot, the polyurethane elastomer should preferablyhave a hardness value within the range of about 20 to 90 Shore Adurometer. The polyurethane elastomer composition should also beresistant to permanent deformation at temperatures in the range of about-30° to +70° C. to retain its desired shape. Compressive strength asmeasured by ASTM D-575 Method A should preferably range from 150-4000psi at 50% deflection. Tear strength as measured by ASTM test D-624preferably exceeds 20 lbs. per inch thickness.

The elastomeric layer has a minimum thickness of 30 mils to provide thenecessary resilience and supporting surface for use as a floor tile.Typical thicknesses for this base layer will be on the order of 100 to250 mils for floor covering applications. Other shaped articles ashereinafter described may have a thicker elastomeric base layer.

A preferred polyurethane elastomer material for this purpose may beformed by a .Iadd.filled .Iaddend.pourable reaction mixture ofpoly(oxypropylene)polyol and an organic polyisocyanate with a suitablecrosslinking catalyst.

Pourable reaction mixtures of poly(oxyalkylene)polyol and organicpolyisocyanate which harden from a liquid state to a solid elastomericstate under ambient temperatures and pressures may be readily formed bymixing approximately equivalent quantities, i.e., 0.8:1 to about 1.2:1,of organic, and preferably aromatic, polyisocyanate, and polymericpoly(oxyalkylene) polyol, and preferably 1,2-propylene oxide derivedpolyols. The reaction mixtures are preferably reacted in the presence ofa suitable polyol-soluble metal catalyst for the reactants so that thereaction proceeds at ambient temperatures with great rapidity, e.g., onehour or less from a liquid to a substantially completely reacted solidstate.

A number of soluble metal compounds have been found to catalyze suchreaction mixtures under ambient conditions as for example, organo-tincompounds, lead salts of carboxylic acids, mercuric compounds, acombination of a calcium or lead salt of a carboxylic acid, such ascalcium or lead octoate, an ionizable monoorgano-mercuric compound, suchas phenyl mercuric acetate, and lead oxide. The total amount of thecatalyst should not be less than about 0.1% of the reaction mixture,and, to hasten the setting-up of hardening time desired, may be adjustedupwardly to about 3%; or to such higher percentage as desired before theaccelerating effect is lost or undesirable side effects beome apparent.

For the elastomer to form .[.as.]. a tough, wear and abrasion resistantrubbery product, some trifunctionality may be desired to facilitatecross-linking of the reactants as well as chain extension thereof. Thisis readily accomplished by including some triisocyanate or triol or bothin the reaction mixture. Thus, for example, when the reaction mixture iscomprised essentially of an aromatic diisocyanate and polypropyleneglycol a certain amount of trifunctionality can be built in very readilyby pre-reacting from 5% to 15% of a triol such as trimethylol propanewith the aromatic diisocyanate to form some triisocyanate or byincluding as part of the monomer charge for making the startingpolymeric polyol from about 5% to 15% of a triol such as trimethylolpropane, glycerine or the like. The resulting hardened product is aresult of the one stage continuous reaction of this reaction mixture.

The elastomeric composition may contain up to about 75% by weight of afinely divided inert inorganic filler to reduce cost. The fillers shouldbe selected to be inert in an elastomeric composition in the environmentselected for use for the ultimate article. For example, a resilient woodreplication containing a moisture-sensitive filler would be unacceptablebecause, in some instances, such moisture susceptibility may cause thearticle to swell or increase in size, causing it to buckle where it isin a confined location such as an inlaid floor covering. The fillers arefinely divided, i.e., are in the form of powders or powder-likesubstances with the particles in very fine size ranges, smaller thanabout 100 microns and generally less than about 10 microns. Preferredfillers include silica, dried calcium carbonate and the like.

The molded wood-grain surface of the base layer is provided by castingthe liquid polyurethane precursor in a suitable mold which has anegative pattern corresponding .Iadd.to .Iaddend.the wood-grain desired.For this purpose, flexible molds made of RTV silicone rubber have beenfound to be especially suitable. Such molds may be prepared by pouringliquid silicone polymer into a suitable vessel containing a woodoriginal, curing the polymer, and removing the wood.

The stain employed to provide the color or pigmentation to the texturedsurface of the elastomeric base of the article of the invention may beeither the penetrating type or the wiping type. Such stains are water-or solvent-soluble dyes, or chemically reactive agents which normallycolor wood. These materials have been found to also color thepolyurethane compositions forming the elastomeric base layer of thearticle of the invention. Such stains typically are formed of syntheticor naturally occurring chemical compounds in a liquid vehicle which mayalso contain a small amount of binder. Dyeing type stains are notpreferred because they stain polyurethane elastomeric poorly, stainingits surface a monotone rather than providing the contrasting tones thatone would expect from wood.

The penetrating type stain typically contains a liquid vehicle organicor aqueous solvent, pigment and a polymeric material such asnitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose or an acrylate binder. Such penetratingstains are painted on the surface and permitted to dry by evaporation ofthe vehicle and require no curing of the polymeric binder. Wiping stainson the other hand contain a drying oil base and pigment in a liquidvehicle. Typically, the drying oil base is linseed oil or an alkyd oil.As the name .[.applies.]. .Iadd.implies.Iaddend., the wiping type stainusually does not penetrate, but it is applied and remains on the surfacemuch in the same manner as paint. Upon exposure, the liquid vehicle ofthe wiping stain evaporates, if one is used, and the drying oilpolymerizes to form a non-tacky pigmented polymeric layer on the surfaceof the article being stained. Such stains typically will produce stainedarticles according to the invention in colors such as walnut, cherry,mahogany, pecan and the like. Virtually any desired color may beproduced by the selection of the appropriately pigmented stain. Unlike.[.when.]. staining wood, the product of the invention stains quiteuniformly because there are no areas on the surface of the elastomericbase which are more porous than other areas, as is typically found inwood.

Some stain formulations which have been found to be especially suitableinclude .[.that.]. .Iadd.those .Iaddend.sold under the tradeidentification "Natural Walnut 46-506" by the Elliot Paint and VarnishCompany of Chicago, Illinois, "American Walnut Stain" by the ColonyPaints Division of Conchem Company, Inc., "Spiced Walnut, Blondit WoodFinish" by James B. Day and Company and "American Walnut 640.00,Penchrome" by the O'Brien Corporation.

The polyurethane protective coating covering the wood-grain texturedsurface of the article of the invention is formed of a polymericmaterial which has good adhesion to the stained surface of the polymericelastomer even under high stress, multiple flexing use, is highlyabrasion resistant, flexible, transparent, water resistant and tough.For this purpose, the polyurethane forming this coating should have anelongation of .[.from.]. about 200 to 600% and a tensile strength of atleast about 1500 psi. The thickness of the polyurethane protectivecoating should be no less than 1 mil to provide the proper protectionfor the surface of the elastomeric base. Typical thickness for thislayer will vary within the range from about 2 mils to about 20 mils. Theprotective coating may be applied in a thickness sufficient to obviateany surface roughness on the texture surface of the elastomer base. Thismay be desired where a completely smooth floor covering is desired, forease of cleaning.

An especially useful polyurethane protective coating may be formed of aprepolymer prepared by reacting .[.poly(oxypropylene) glycol.]..Iadd.polytetramethylene ether diol.Iaddend., poly(oxypropylene) trioland .[.polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate.]. .Iadd.methylene cyclohexyldiisocyanate .Iaddend.and reacting this prepolymer in the presence ofmoisture with an amine-terminated polyether hydrofuran.

Other useful polyurethane protective coating formulations include thefollowing commercially available materials: (1) elastomeric polyurethanelacquer available from the Spencer Kellogg Company under the tradedesignation "DV 1666"; (2) polyurethane elastomer adhesive compositionavailable from the Spencer Kellogg Company under the trade designation"XP 2519"; and (3) polyurethane elastomeric lacquer composition soldunder the trade designation "Permuthane" by the Beatrice ChemicalCompany.

Some commercially available polyurethane compositions which have beenfound to be unacceptable include the following: (1) polyurethanecomposition sold by Spencer Kellogg Company under the trade designation"M 21"; and (2) polyurethane composition sold by the Spencer KelloggCompany under the trade designation "M 22". The latter two compositionswrinkled the surface of the resilient wood replication article when itwas subjected to stress.

While the general tenor of the foregoing has been to indicate utility ofthe resilient wood replication of the invention as being useful as afloor tile, the article of the invention, appropriately shaped, isuseful for any of a wide variety of purposes. For example, the articleof the invention may be shaped in the form of casings for windows ordoors, baseboard molding, floor planking, wall covering, chair rails,decorative parts, picture frames, and the like. Modifications may bemade in any of the articles mentioned above without departing from thescope of the invention. For example, the floor tile may be coated withpressure sensitive adhesive or other adhesive on its bottom side forease of mounting and designs other than those described for the floortile may be also employed. The floor tile may also be fitted with a foambacking to give it even more resilience or it may be made using a foamedpolyurethane elastomer as a base.

The invention is further illustrated by reference to the followingexamples, in which all parts and percentages are by weight unlessotherwise noted.

EXAMPLE 1

A wood original was prepared by cutting pieces of 3/4 inch thick oak inshapes substantially the same as those comprising the tile shown in FIG.1 and permanently adhering them to a plywood backing in the arrangementshown in FIG. 1. The surface of the oak was brushed with a rotary wirebrush to enhance the wood grain. Wooden strips 9/16 inch thick and 1/2inch wide were then fastened to the plywood backing to form a continuousridge adjacent the peripheral edge of the wood original, and additionalwooden strips 1 inch thick and 1/2 inch wide were fastened to theplywood adjacent the aforementioned ridge to form the outer edges of amold cavity to retain curable liquid silicone material which would becured to form the flexible mold. The mold was then prepared by pouringsufficient room temperature vulcanizable (RTV) silicone resin sold underthe trade designation "Silastic" J RTV to fill the cavity and completelycover the wood original, permitting the silicone liquid resin to curefor approximately 24 hours at room temperature and then separating thesilicone rubber mold from the wood original. Several molds were preparedin this manner and attached end to end on an endless belt.

The liquid polyurethane precursor material which on curing would formthe polyurethane elastomer base was prepared of the followingingredients:

    ______________________________________                                        Part A                                                                        Ingredients              Parts                                                ______________________________________                                        Polypropylene glycol having a molecular                                       weight of 2000           31.8                                                 SiO.sub.2 filler having a particle size on                                    the average of 2.8 microns                                                                             67.3                                                 Phenyl mercuric acetate catalyst                                                                       0.15                                                 Butylated hydroxy toluene (sold under                                         the trade designation "lonol")                                                                         0.10                                                 TiO.sub.2 pigment        0.65                                                 ______________________________________                                        Part B                                                                        Ingredients (per 100 parts Part A)                                            Polyphenylene polyisocyanate having an                                        equivalent weight of 135 (sold under                                          .[.Ingredients (per 100 parts Part A).].                                      the trade designation "Mondur" MRS)                                                                    5.3                                                  ______________________________________                                    

The Part A ingredients were blended in a paddle mixer for approximatelyone hour to form a homogeneous mixture which was degassed to removeentrapped air and moisture and then pumped into a mixing head where thePart B ingredient was added with additional mixing. The resultantmixture was then pumped into an extruding head fitted with a die havinga 20 inch wide rectangular extrusion orifice capable of filling themolds to a thickness of about 185 mils. The filled molds were thenpassed through a forced air oven heated at about 120° C. for a dwelltime of about 10-20 minutes to cure the polyurethane elastomer. Thecured elastomer had a Shore A hardness of 81, a tensile strength of 373psi, a 132% elongation at break, and a tear strength of 66 lbs. per inchthickness.

The cured elastomer shape was removed from the mold, and then conveyedwood-grain-textured-surface down into a dip coater station where a soyaalkyl resin based walnut stain was applied, the excess stain wiped fromthe stained surface and the resultant stain coating dried at about 120°C. for 5 to 10 minutes. The dried stained textured surface was thenpassed through a curtain coating station to provide a dry coating weightof from 4 to 8 mils of a polyurethane protective coating. The curtaincoater was that manufactured by the Gasway Division of the WolverinePentromix Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. The polyurethane protective coatingformulation consisted of the following ingredients:

Polyurethane Protective Coating Formulation

    ______________________________________                                        Part A                                                                        Ingredient               Parts                                                ______________________________________                                        Solvent - a narrow range of mid- to high                                      boiling hydrocarbons having 94% aromatic                                      and 4% aliphatic constituents with a                                          100° C. flash point                                                                             49.                                                  Polytetramethylene ether diol having a                                        molecular weight of 1000 17.                                                  Poly(oxypropylene) triol having a                                             molecular weight of 450  1.5                                                  Glycol mono-acetate (approx.)                                                                          7.                                                   Polyvinyl chloride powder flattening agent                                    (sold under the trade designation                                             "Marvinol" 53)           2.3                                                  Sodium silicate (sold under the trade                                                                  4.8                                                  designation "Syloid" 244)                                                     .[.4.8.].                                                                     Bentonite Clay thickening agent (sold                                         under the trade designation "Bentone" 34)                                                              0.8                                                  Dibutyl tin dilaurate    0.03                                                 1,1,1 Trichloroethane    6.7                                                  Methylene bis(4,4'-cyclo-                                                     hexyl isocyanate)        10.4                                                 ______________________________________                                        Part B                                                                        Amine-terminated polyether hydrofuran                                         solution 21.3% solids in toluene                                              (sold under the trade designation                                             "EPX" polymer solution)  54.                                                  Solvent - described in Part A                                                                          43.                                                  Triethylene diamine      1.3                                                  Dibutyl tin dilaurate    1.3                                                  ______________________________________                                         .[.041030560150x.].

The dried polyurethane protective coating had an elongation of 300-350%and a tensile strength of 4600 psi. Wear resistance evaluation of thiscured polyurethane composition, determined by use of a "Taber" abraderdevice Model 503-1 according to ASTM D1242, resulted in a weight loss ofrange 6-13.0 mg after 5000 cycles with a load of 1 kg, this being asuperior result as compared to other commercially available floorcovering materials.

The backside of the resultant coated composite was ground to a uniformflat surface and thickness of 150 mils to produce a finished floor tile.

Examples 2-7 show other useful polyurethane elastomer base formulations.

EXAMPLE 2

    ______________________________________                                        Part A                                                                        Ingredient               Parts                                                ______________________________________                                        Poly(oxypropylene) glycol having a                                            molecular weight of 2000 30                                                   SiO.sub.2 (2.8 micron average particle size)                                                           65                                                   Phenyl mercuric acetate catalyst                                                                       0.14                                                 Butylated hydroxy toluene (sold under                                         the trade designation "Ionol")                                                                         0.095                                                ______________________________________                                        Part B                                                                        Ingredient               Parts                                                ______________________________________                                        Polyphenylene polyisocyanate having an                                        equivalent weight of 135 (sold under                                          the trade designation "Mondur" MRS)                                                                    4.8                                                  ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 3

Same as Example 2 but substituting the SiO₂ with an equal weight ofcalcium carbonate having a particle size less than 75 microns and a meanparticle size of 12 microns.

EXAMPLE 4

    ______________________________________                                        Part A                                                                        Ingredient                 Parts                                              ______________________________________                                        Poly(oxypropylene)glycol having a                                             molecular weight of 2000   51                                                 SiO.sub.2 (2.8 micron average particle size)                                                             40                                                 Phenyl mercuric acetate    0.14                                               ______________________________________                                        Part B                                                                        Ingredient                 Parts                                              ______________________________________                                        Polyphenylene polyisocyanate having an                                        equivalent weight of 135 "Mondur" Mondur(MRS)                                                            8.7                                                ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 5

Same as Example No. 4 but substituting the SiO₂ with an equal weight ofcalcium carbonate described in Example 3.

EXAMPLE 6

    ______________________________________                                        Part A                                                                        Ingredient               Parts                                                ______________________________________                                        .[.Poly(oxypropylene.].                                                       Poly(oxypropylene) glycol having a                                            molecular weight of 2000 16.3                                                 .[.Poly(oxypropylene.].                                                       Poly(oxypropylene) triol having a                                             molecular weight of 1500 13.2                                                 Butylated hydroxy toluene                                                                              0.2                                                  Phenyl mercuric acetate  0.17                                                 SiO.sub.2 (2.8 micron average particle size)                                                           62.86                                                ______________________________________                                        Part B                                                                        Ingredient               Parts                                                ______________________________________                                        Toluene diisocyanate     7.23                                                 ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 7

Same as Example No. 6 but substituting the SiO₂ with an equal weight ofCaCO₂ described in Example 3.

What is claimed is:
 1. A resilient wood replication especially suitedfor use as floor covering comprising in combination:(1) a resilientpolyurethane elastomeric base at least 30 mils thick and having a moldedtextured wood-grain surface, said polyurethane elastomer.Iadd.elastomeric base .Iaddend.being formed of a precursor materialwhich has an initial liquid state permitting it to be poured into a moldhaving the negative of a wood grain pattern and being capable of nearlyperfectly reproducing a counterpart of the mold's surface upon curing,forming an elastomeric product which is flexible, durable and tough,resilient, water-resistant and resistant to permanent deformation attemperatures in the range of about -30° to +70° C. and having anelongation at break of at least 50%, a tensile strength of at leastabout 100 psi, a hardness value within the range of about 20 to 90 ShoreA durometer, a compressive strength in the range of about 150 to 4000psi at 50% deflection and a tear strength which exceeds 20 lbs. per inchthickness; (2) sufficient wood stain applied over said molded texturedwood-grain surface to make it resemble stained wood; and (3) a layer atleast 1 mil thick of a clear, tough, abrasion-resistant, flexible,adherent polyurethane material overcoating the stained molded texturedwood-grain surface.
 2. The resilient wood replication of claim 1 whereinsaid elastomeric base contains up to about 75% by weight of a finelydivided inorganic filler.
 3. The resilient wood replication of claim 2wherein said inert inorganic filler is selected from the groupconsisting of silica and dried calcium carbonate.
 4. The resilient woodreplication of claim 1 wherein said polyurethane elastomer is producedby the reaction product of poly(oxypropylene) polyol and an organicpolyisocyanate with a suitable crosslinking catalyst.
 5. The resilientwood replication of claim 1 wherein said polyurethane protective coatingis produced by reacting .[.poly(oxypropylene) glycol.]..Iadd.polytetramethylene ether diol, .Iaddend.poly(oxypropylene) trioland .[.poly methylene poly phenyl isocyanate.]. .Iadd.methylenebis(4,4'-cyclohexyl isocyanate) .Iaddend.in the presence of a suitablecrosslinking catalyst.
 6. The resilient wood replication of claim 1wherein said polyurethane protective coating has an elongation of fromabout 200% to 600% and a tensile strength of at least about 1500 psi. 7.The resilient wood replication of claim 1 in the form of a floor tile.